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Historic climate accord approved by nearly 200 countries

PARIS—A historic and truly global agreement to fight back against the ravages of climate change and help the most vulnerable countries adapt was unanimously approved Saturday after two decades of failed attempts.

The deal aims to hold the rise in average global temperature to “well below” 2 degrees C, and ambitiously calls for additional efforts to limit warming to 1.5 degrees C, a threshold scientists say would substantially reduce climate risks and impacts.

French President Francois Hollande, centre, and French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius, right, applaud after a statement at the COP21 Climate Conference in Le Bourget, north of Paris, on Saturday. The years-long quest for a universal pact to avert catastrophic climate change neared the finish line today with conference host France announcing that the final draft had been completed in the early hours of the morning. (MIGUEL MEDINA / AFP/GETTY IMAGES)

The agreement calls for a global peak in greenhouse gas emissions “as soon as possible” and a balance between how much humanity emits and how much nature can absorb — known as “carbon neutrality” — sometime during the second half of the century.

Delegates rose to their feet in triumphant applause after it became clear that the final text was accepted in a show of unprecedented international unity. Some countries, including Nicaragua, voiced dissatisfaction with aspects of the document but chose not to block a deal.

A Government of Canada photo shows Environment and Climate Minister Catherine McKenna, second up from the right, with other members of the Canadian delegation poring over a draft of a Paris climate agreement at the Le Bourget conference centre.

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Catherine McKenna, federal minister of environment and climate change, said it’s time for Canadians to roll up their sleeves.

“We see in Canada the impacts of climate change. We have wildfires in B.C.; we have flooding in Alberta; Prince Edward Island is shrinking; and we see in our Arctic the permafrost is melting and hunters have shorter seasons. Canadians know that we need to act, and that’s what we’re going to do,” said McKenna after emerging from the final late-night meeting, anxious to return to Ottawa after an exhausting two weeks.

“Now it’s time to do the hard work,” she added. “We’re going to go home and figure out the plan. . . Every Canadian has to do their part.”

United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon called the agreement a “monumental success for the planet and its people.” François Hollande, president of host country France, which just a month ago faced a deadly cluster of terrorist attacks in its capital city, spoke of the lasting significance of the moment.

Looking back, he said, “We’ll be able to mention many things, tell a great many stories, but one thing will come up time and time again. You’ll be able to say on Dec. 12, 2015, you were in Paris for the climate agreement.”

Hollande already had plans for Sunday. He announced he would immediately propose the creation of an international coalition of countries determined to slap a global price on carbon.

Canada’s Minister of Environment and Climate Change Catherine McKenna in Paris Saturday morning as delegates prepare for the release of the text. (Tyler Hamilton)

One by one, top representatives from among the 195 participating countries took to the microphone to express mostly gratitude for a robust and flexible deal that, however imperfect, struck a fair balance and was ambitious enough to fast-track the transition to a low-carbon economy.

Not only did they celebrate the agreement, they showered praise on Conference of Parties (COP) chair Laurent Fabius, France’s foreign minister, who deftly steered negotiations while keeping the process transparent and inclusive. A smooth-spoken politician, Fabius was at one point so caught up in the moment that he declared, laughing, “I forgot my French.”

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“Having seen these COPs from inside the belly of the beast, I can say this was the most tightly run COP in our history,” said Christiana Figueres, the UN’s top climate bureaucrat.

A common, legally binding system of transparency will apply to all countries, meaning their emission-reduction and adaptation efforts will be measured and reviewed under the same global standard every five years. Countries will get a chance in 2018 to bolster their current pledges and will be pressured to up their game in five-year cycles.

Reducing greenhouse gas emissions and adapting to climate effects share the stage as priorities, and financing will be provided — led by developed countries with help from able and willing developing countries — to support the most vulnerable nations transition to a low-carbon economy and remain resilient in the face of intensifying climate impacts.

The accord, said Miguel Arias Canete, the European Union’s top climate negotiator, has “all the nuts and bolts.”

Countries that earlier in the negotiations were expected to weaken the deal — namely China, India and Saudi Arabia — ended up being full supporters. China’s special envoy on climate change, Xie Zhenhua, said the agreement wasn’t perfect. “However, this does not prevent us from marching historic steps forward,” he said.

Indian Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar called the accord “a new chapter of hope for the lives of all people on the planet.”

The "red line" demonstration in Paris's business district. (JACKY NAEGELEN)

John Kerry, U.S. secretary of state, emphasized that a critical message has been sent to the global marketplace and a torrent of new innovation should be expected to emerge. Not long after, Virgin Group founder Richard Branson issued a statement. “The ‘Paris effect’ will ensure the economy of the future is driven by clean energy,” Branson said.

McKenna pointed to a transition that is already taking place in Canada, which has a blossoming clean technology sector and energy companies that are diversifying into renewable energy. “I see this as a great opportunity,” she said. “This is about the economy and the environment going together.”

Environmental groups were predictably divided, with Friends of the Earth calling the accepted text “a shame of a deal” and the David Suzuki Foundation describing it as an ambitious agreement that “marks a pivotal moment in history.”

Bill McKibben, climate activist and founder of 350.org, said the deal doesn’t save the planet, “but it may have saved the chance of saving the planet.”

With files from The Associated Press

This article is part of a series produced in partnership by the Toronto Star and Tides Canada to address a range of pressing climate issues in Canada leading up to the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris, December 2015. Tides Canada is supporting this partnership to increase public awareness and dialogue around the impacts of climate change on Canada’s economy and communities. The Toronto Star has full editorial control and responsibility to ensure stories are rigorously edited in order to meet its editorial standards.

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